EIS scoping period over

As mentioned in Please help!, three processes are ongoing and open to your input:

1. BLM Environmental Impact Study


2. Nevada State Engineer public comments


3. UT-NV agreement
   

See Please help! for details and contact information.

BLM Environmental Impact Study
We have just past a milestone in one of these processes, the BLM Environmental Impact Study. The deadline for scoping comments ended yesterday (10-17-06). We'll keep you posted on any EIS activity we hear about.

The technical teams -- hydrology, biology, and socio-economic -- will begin meeting as soon as arrangements can be made, possibly before the end of this year. These teams evaluate SNWA's proposal against available data. We've been reassured by BLM staffers that a groundwater model will be run as part of the hydrology team's work. SNWA claims there is not enough data available to run a predictive model but they seem to think there is enough data to know its OK to pump and export water.

Nevada State Engineer
You still have time to make comments to the Nevada State Engineer who must decide whether to grant water rights for Spring Valley, just west of Snake Valley. (See Please help! for details and contact information.) We'll keep you posted on this process, too, especially when the Spring Valley decision is made and when Snake Valley water rights hearings are scheduled.


Thanks to all who are interested in this issue and for all you have done to support Snake Valley.